Social Movements & the Law

In Tucson, a legendary attorney was suspended for two years from representing clients in immigration court. Was the punishment warranted?

President Joe Biden says he will formally apologize on for the nation's role in forcing Indigenous children into boarding schools, where for more than 150 years many were physically, emotionally and sexually abused, and more than 950 died.

President Joe Biden has formally apologized to Native Americans for the “sin” of a government-run boarding school system that for decades forcibly separated children from their parents, calling it a “blot on American history” in his first visit to Indian Country.

The owner of the Camelback Family Planning is willing to take risks for patients that other doctors won’t, while staying within the bounds of the state’s abortion ban

This report describes experiences of violence, poor mental health, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, school connectedness, and unstable housing among high school students who identify as transgender.

The president of the Navajo Nation, one of the largest Native American tribes in the U.S., has removed responsibilities from his vice president.

As immigration emerges as a top election issue, our corps members documented the complex truth about immigration to the United States

Candice Hammons' journey and the plight of her ancestors will become an exhibit by the African American Museum of Southern Arizona on October 17

It's a product of climate change, which is causing wetter conditions across the upper Midwest, and manmade change to the river, altering its flow.

“How can I be a better ally?” This is a question we often hear at the Commission. Here are four more questions lawyers ask about allyship.

The Supreme Court’s December argument session will feature the challenge to Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors, as well as a case by survivors of the Hungarian Holocaust seeking compensation for the seizure of the property by the Hungarian government and a

The ACLU’s Chase Strangio is representing a group of trans people opposing Tennessee’s Republican-backed law banning gender-affirming medical care for trans minors.

Many Native Americans are coming together for Indigenous Peoples Day to celebrate and acknowledge the ongoing challenges they face with a focus on the election.

A complicated legal fight between the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the Poarch Creek Indians could have ripple effects throughout Indian country

The unknown architects of civil rights : Thaddeus Stevens, Ulysses S. Grant, and Charles Sumner-book

"This book makes explicit the racial, ethnic, and gendered forms of environmental injustice that culminate from the collective, intersecting, and multi-scaler consequences of a seemingly anonymous authoritarian state willing to maintain white supremacy at any cost, including poisoning an entire city and shutting off water to thousands of people"--

One of the things small town librarian Amanda Jones values most about books is how they can affirm a young person's sense of self. So in 2022, when she caught wind of a local public hearing that would discuss "book content," she knew what was at stake. Schools and libraries nationwide have been bombarded by demands for books with LGTBQ+ references, discussions of racism, and more to be purged from the shelves. Amanda would be damned if her community were to ban stories representing minority groups. She spoke out that night at the meeting. Days later, she woke up to a nightmare that is still ongoing. Amanda Jones has been called a groomer, a pedo, and a porn-pusher; she has faced death threats and attacks from strangers and friends alike. Her decision to support a collection of books with diverse perspectives made her a target for extremists using book banning campaigns--funded by dark money organizations and advanced by hard right politicians--in a crusade to make America more white, straight, and "Christian." But Amanda Jones wouldn't give up without a fight: she sued her harassers for defamation and urged others to join her in the resistance. Mapping the book banning crisis occurring all across the nation, That Librarian draws the battle lines in the war against equity and inclusion, calling book lovers everywhere to rise in defense of our readers.

"The first English-language collection of Latina/x caregiving testimonios, this volume gives voice to diverse Chicana/x Latina/x caregiving experiences. Bringing together thirteen first-person accounts of how Latinx people deal with serious health conditions as caregivers, these testimonies highlight tragic flaws in the healthcare system, how woefully undervalued caregiving is, and how as care-recipients and caregivers they have been harmed by the for-profit healthcare system"--

"From esteemed journalist and scholar Joshua Leifer, a definitive look at the history and future of American Jewish identity and community from the tipping point we are living in"--

A sobering account of a little-known crime against African Americans, and the insidious legacy of racism that reverberates today. From the aftermath of the Civil War through the dawn of World War II, under laws enacted specifically to intimidate blacks, tens of thousands of African Americans were arbitrarily arrested, hit with outrageous fines, and charged for the costs of their own arrests. With no means to pay these "debts," prisoners were sold as forced laborers to coal mines, lumber camps, brickyards, railroads, quarries, and farm plantations. Thousands of other African Americans were simply seized and compelled into years of involuntary servitude. Armies of "free" black men labored without compensation, were repeatedly bought and sold, and were forced through beatings and physical torture to do the bidding of white masters for decades after the official abolition of American slavery.--From publisher description

"Depending on the statistics you read, approximately one-third of the inmates in U.S. jails and prisons have some sort of mental disability. It has become cliche to say that our jails and prisons have become de facto mental institutions. How did we reach this point? Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers takes a look at the challenges and opportunities that are presented in these types of cases. For criminal defense lawyers of all types, clients with mental disabilities are a part of their practice. This ranges from the white-collar criminal defense lawyer who represents an executive charged with tax evasion who functions in spite of a variety of conditions which he keeps hidden, to the public defender assigned as standby or advisory counsel for the defendant who wants to represent himself at trial, to the sole practitioner representing the man with Asperger's charged with possession of child pornography on his computer. Representing People with Mental Disabilities is easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate. It is intended that you can throw the book in your briefcase on the way to the courthouse, or load it on your tablet and turn to the appropriate chapter or chapters when needed. If you want to learn more about a topic, the Suggested Works section at the end of the book contains titles of books and articles as well as websites. Additionally, many chapters contain the statement at the end, "Complete citations are available from the author/authors upon request." The accompanying website has motions and pleadings which you can adapt to your jurisdiction." --

"An intelligent machine built to study methods of social warfare struggles to understand and communicate the lived experience of race In a narrative full of social significance and poetically decorated with monks, vampires, and mythical statistics, Race in the Machine presents a world where the stories we use to explain race all simultaneously exist, within and around us, dictating our interactions and innermost beliefs. The nameless protagonist, an enigmatic social mechanic at Nearbay Institute, living in a population of socially connected intelligent machines, encounters a simple query in the context of an introductory lecture: "What exactly is race? And what is it in the context of the social machine?" This prompt guides the protagonist along a twisting intellectual tale surrounding a series of experiments which explore: How many racists does it take to create systems of inequality? What role do non-racists actors play in upholding them? How is bias learned? How does it spread? The narrator develops a distinct understanding of race through the figurative bending of time, dreams of a "race code" and by confronting a series of mysterious communications that remain just outside comprehension. Over the course of this journey, the answers to important questions about racial inequality quietly emerge for the protagonist. Scholarly encounters with both antagonistic colleagues and unexpected allies, culminate when the hero is forced to reach a devastating conclusion about themselves and the world. Stirring and luminous, Race in the Machine deftly oscillates between the allegorically simplified and the impossibly complex to weave an utterly unique and nuanced portrait of race in the modern world"--

"Throughout my career, I have defended clients in numerous matters where I needed to litigate issues related to every possible variety of prosecutorial misconduct - false statements in search warrant affidavits, improper conduct before the grand jury, improper closing argument, etc. While I continue to believe that the overwhelming majority of prosecutors are professional and ethical, our recent history demonstrates that there are far too many individuals serving prison sentences due to unchecked prosecutorial misconduct. This book aims to arm criminal defense attorneys with the tools needed to fight back against the minority of prosecutors who choose to use their immense power in the wrong way"--

"This book tells the real story of abortion in America, one that captures a disturbing reality of sometimes insurmountable barriers put in front of women trying to exercise their legal rights to medical services. Without the efforts of an unheralded army of doctors, nurses, social workers, activists, and volunteers, what is a legal right would be meaningless for the almost one million people per year who get abortions. There is a better way-treating abortion like any other form of health care-but the United States is a long way from that ideal"--

"Ethical, pondering, and wondrous, adrienne maree brown's Loving Corrections is a collection of love-based adjustments and reframes to grow our movements for liberation while navigating a society deeply fractured by greed, racism, and war. In this landmark book, brown invigorates her influential writing on belonging and accountability into the framework of "loving corrections": a generative space where rehearsals for the revolution become the everyday norm in relating to one another. Filled with practical wisdom on how to be a trustworthy communicator while providing bold visions for a shared future, Loving Corrections can speak to everyone caught in the crossroads of our political challenges and potential. No matter how new to the struggle, or how numerous our failures, brown's indispensable writing is an invitation to us all."--